China Shrimp Market Update January 12, 2017
Estimated total shrimp harvest for China in 2016 was 650,000 MT, head-on weight. Approx. 80% went to domestic market, 20% for vannamei exporters. Information we have is that 2016 harvest was down about 10-15% from 2015.
For imports it is very roughly estimated that total 100,000 MT was imported, 70% for domestic and 30% for further processing and vannamei exports. There is no solid data to back this up, this is mostly anecdotal.
China shrimp harvest for 2017 is currently expected to be similar to 2016 but in fact it is much too early to accurately predict. Too many factors remain unknown.
Main shrimp seeding is normally 2nd half of March, first harvest normally be end June 2017, peak harvest Aug to September
Shrimp consumption continues to grow in China. Assuming no major increase in shrimp production, expect China prices to be relatively firm in 2017. Expect imports into China for both domestic consumption and further processing and vannamei exports to increase in 2017.